Well it’s been 3 years abroad.
In less than 24 hours I’m going to be on a plane heading back to the US.
It’s weird to have time to reflect now that I’ve finished packing my bags, and boxes to mail home. I’ve sold, given away or thrown out nearly anything else from my apartment.
I came to Korea with only two medium sized suitcases and a laptop backpack.
Before I came out here, I went through a great purging of my stuff but I’m sure I kept more things than I should have in boxes at my parents’ houses. It’s weird how much extra junk and crap you accumulate over three years. A toaster oven, pots, pans, extra blankets, towels, touristy nick-knacks from all over the region, posters, postcards, clothes, shoes, and all sorts of things. The umbrellas must be breeding in my closet because there always seems to be more when I look for the big one on a rainy day.
I came to Korea not knowing a damned thing about the language except for “안냥하세요” and “김치” (Annyounghasaeyo- hello / Kimchi - kimchi). Now I can read it and I’ve gotten a good vocabulary thanks to phone dictionaries and English speaking Korean friends. I struggle to speak beyond the simplest of phrases but I can get what I want to eat, go to where I want, give directions and let a doctor know where it hurts. I’d like to keep up the language and I think one of the reasons I couldn’t be bothered to pursue it with any gumption when I was living here was spending 6~7 hours each day trying to keep my students from speaking Korean and only using English in our classes. A friend of mine said it was the best ever when he quit his job and went to a part time position so he could enroll at a college for studying the language. His language skills picked up significantly. I imagine if I really, really want to keep it up I’ll be in an ideal situation to do so when I’m no longer teaching. I want to become fluent in another language and Korean is something I’ve had three years’ constant exposure to. Why not?
Last weekend was my going away party, and I’m proud to say I pulled an all nighter. We ate at what I believe to be the best Indian food in Seoul in Gangnam. Then we met up with more folks and went to a very posh nightclub nearby. Then I had my last rounds of drinks in bars in Itaewon. I figure I’ve spent enough time in Hongdae the past month, and Itaewon needed some love too. My friends got me back for all the times I’ve convinced them to keep staying out by insisting I stay out until the subways start up with them.
I was feeling mixed feelings as I ate my Rogan Josh and Garlic Naan. There were friends eating with us who I’d known since I first came to Korea three years before. Friends I’d made over the summer, friends from back in my college days who’d come out to try their hands at the ESL racket, my coworkers and even my replacement across from me. I think it wasn’t until RIGHT THEN that it sunk in that I was going to leave Korea soon and here were all of these people that I’d hung out with in Korea and made a life out here with. We all talked of things we’d all done together, and God, I’ll miss the lot of ‘em.
My year in Mokpo was great. There weren’t as many foreigners there then as there are now, but we made do with it. I made some very close friends that I hope to never lose touch with while I was there. We also got into some wild shenanigans and had a lot of fun. We’d rent a car over a weekend and we’d travel and live it up a lot, as well. Going out for Noraebang (Karaoke basically), 삼겹살 (Korean BBQ), going to islands on the weekends, and everything else under the sun was great.
I originally thought I’d only be here for one year.
It’s probably not internet classy to say so, but near the end of my first year I met someone and we proceeded to spend nearly two years dating.
I think moving from Mokpo to Incheon/Seoul and having a huge leap in things to do and see and better restaurants helped sustain my enthusiasm for living abroad so long. Once I was in Incheon I started going into Seoul like every weekend. I’ve seen a lot of the big city and much of Korea by now.
I think moving from Mokpo to Incheon/Seoul and having a huge leap in things to do and see and better restaurants helped sustain my enthusiasm for living abroad so long. Once I was in Incheon I started going into Seoul like every weekend. I’ve seen a lot of the big city and much of Korea by now.
I am looking forward to not teaching for awhile. I need a vacation badly. I’m a motivated person, I just can’t wait to take some well earned time off. I could go on and on and on about things that have really sucked about the ESL experience but I’ll just sum it up in a few points and be on with it. Sparse vacation days, desk-warming, hive mind mentality (even though I disagree with you I have to agree because you’re the boss), and how much attention and effort gets paid to image and how little goes into actual content and quality.
Done and moving forward.
So people have asked me what I’m going to miss the most about Korea. That’s hard to say to be honest. I’ll definitely miss the food and all the extra side dishes you get for free. I’ll jest and even say not tipping, even if you’ve gotten shit service and shit food as is still expected in the US. I’m going to miss so much Korean food that I could write a blog post by itself about that.
Mostly, I’m going to miss the people that I’ve met while out here who have made being out here such a great experience. I’m going to miss my friends and coworkers. Aw hell, I’ll miss teaching my favorite students, too.
It’s kind of funny to me to think about how much time I’ve got on the clock until I go. And now, at the last second, I want to go out and eat this or go see that before I go, like I’ve never done it before. I’m not too worried about never making it to Jeju, never learning how to make Makkeolli, not surviving more than 30 minutes at Mud Festival, not going to my favorite clubs more, or not travelling abroad more while I was here. While sure, there are tons more I wish I could have done while I was here, if wishes were fishes I’d be running an aquarium. Some old dude got famous for a song that crooned about how you can’t always get what you want, I think. To go contemporary, this internet legend summed it up the best.
Sometimes, you just can’t hug every cat.
Goodbye Korea!
